Thoughts
What is this? I write all of my thoughts and ideas here, this is not their permanent location, these ideas can and will be moved elsewhere on the wikia when I've either fully fleshed out the idea or gotten rid of the idea. Some items here will go on to be expanded upon, others will be scrapped. update not sure whether to split completed ideas up into "Mechanics" and "Plot" I already made an items page. I think i Might start doing that. It might take a while. I have several Mechanics and Plot sub pages already, so it makes sense in order to bring more structure to the Wiki. update Magic is something I really don't want to include right now, I feel magic is incredibly easy and basic narrative to write (all shots fully intended) there is way too much freedom basing entire concepts based on magical roots, which are, at best, lazy basic writing with very little explanation. However, I will be putting any magic specific ideas here: Unused update some ideas are also getting older and tired now, some of these like sap orbs, orn trees, gar and maybe even shaping will be heavily edited or removed, better ideas have come since then, and this is an iterative process. These ideas were written in a period when I was relying on partial magical ties, Gar is the final piece of the Magical puzzle. Thoughts * a hunter that doesn't readily want to give up his knowledge of the locations of wild beasts, but will for a price. * you will commonly come across injured, near death (usually would be) enemies, you can choose to spare them, and communicate with them. * a quest that makes you vastly more powerful earlier on, but later on, you're asked to return the stolen power you stole to it's rightful place. * antique gloves, passed down to an NPC, which he will give you for helping him out. they are much more important than you first expect. * The dirty sun, a sun cloaked in such a thick veil of dust and debris light and heat struggle to penetrate. * The wood situation on ver is very grim, considering most wood on Ver is hardwood. The only saving grace is the age and thickness of the trees, which are usually small and grow quickly making them easier to harvest and even formable into shapes without requiring chopping at all, however, The foresters want a consistent and reliable source of wood, and tools. * a forester that needs to find a material to sharpen his axes, or find someone who can sharpen his tools, unlocks global sword sharpening. * The more you play, the more abilities you find through items, a truly classless experience but with some limited selection through player choice. * The Resurrection portion involves sacraficing many others that could've been resurrected instead. * miners uncovering more and more of a temple throughout the mar experience, eventually they build a battering ram and start battering down the impossibly strong sealed temple door, you can hear them doing this from almost miles away, after seeing them uncover these relics throughout the game, however at this point your allegiances may have changed. It doesn't matter what you do to aid or prevent this, the door comes down and what's inside is revealed. * affidavit * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX5gQ_zJQ3w * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs1EtESFC34 * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWRcr1GeDcY * a quest earlier in the game was a complete fraud, it was easy on purpose, almost to mock you. the npc will admit this and give you the "real quest" * Fill up the bucket from the tap south of the cooking range. * Use the full bucket on the jug to end up with two litres of water in the bucket. * Empty the full jug by using it on the drain. * Use the bucket on the jug to get two litres of water in the jug. * Fill up the bucket with the tap again, and use it on the jug to get 4 litres in the bucket. * Use the bucket on the locked chest to get the vase. * Fill the vase with water from the tap. * After the vase is filled with water, use the vase lid on it, creating a sealed vase. * Use the sealed vase on the frozen table to get a frozen key * Unfreeze the key by cooking it on the range * Go down the east ladder * Talk to Olaf the Bard. He will ask you to get him a pair of new boots. * o to the clothing store (aside: the clothing store is also the starting point of the Rellekka agility course on this building, so in your minimap you can see the Agility icon) which can be found west of Sigmund and ask Yrsa about them. * She will agree to make the boots only if Brundt the Chieftain will lower the taxes on the stores. * If you talk to Brundt in the longhall, he will tell you that the clan will be able to afford it if Sigli the Huntsman will show him the best places to hunt monsters. * Talk to Sigli just south of the longhall. He agrees but first will want a custom-made bowstring. * Go to the helmet store just north of the longhall. The shopkeeper, Skulgrimen, will give you one in exchange for the rare fish that the fisherman caught. * On the third from the left dock in Rellekka, (it's the north-south oriented dock which is closest to Skulgrimen and his helmet shop), you'll find the fisherman at the north end of the dock. He will ask you to get a map of the best spots to catch edible fish. * Find Swensen the Navigator, who is located in the building south of the market place. He will make the map but he will want a weather forecast first. * Peer the Seer is found just north-west of Swensen. He will give you a forecast if Thorvald the Warrior will agree to be his bodyguard. * Thorvald the Warrior is found in the helmet store. He wants you to get him a seat in the longhall. * Manni the Reveller is found in the longhall. He will gladly give up his seat if Thora the Barkeep will make him one of her legendary cocktails. * Thora, also in the longhall, will only agree to make one if you can get a signed note from Askeladden for him to stay out of the bar. * Talk to Askeladden, just south of the longhall, to get the note for 5000 coins. * Then, give the note to Thora, the cocktail to Manni, the token to Thorvald, the contract to Peer, the forecast to Swensen, the chart to the fisherman, the fish to Skulgrimen, the string to Sigli, the map to Brundt, the slip to Yrsa, the boots to Olaf, the ballad to the sailor (the second dock from the left in Rellekka), and finally the flower to Sigmund. You will get his vote. * the full game should play like an origin story, but not one that expects a sequel. cool stuff, lot's of detail, character and world building. * an npc that has obtained an item so powerful that it must be destroyed, however, the player, after defeating this npc whilst they sleep has the option to keep the item, with devastating and horrible results. * old robe, unusual armour, damaged dagger, * creatures that have different resistences and weaknesses to slash, stab and crush type weapons (that aren't just numbers) * a creature that is hibernating and won't wake up, guards an area with massive wealth, will never be woken up in the game. * seemingly meaningless items that have great worth to the right people. * since dead npc's and creatures remain dead (and decay into skeletons) characters will remark about the skeletons and the dead npc/creature, in one ressurection style quest this is used further. * characters will sometimes talk about legendary pieces of equipment or armor before you find them to add weight to their lore and significance. * throughout the game you will find and fight a variety of beasts, only after fighting them will you realize ways to negate their attacks, you need to make this equipment AFTER discovering the most painful ability, this drastically lowers the abilities this particular creature will have in future encounters. * a quest where an old woman will make you soup if you bring her water from the river. * a group called the Shra * a rare fruit that only currently grows in a particular region, securing it's seeds would allow for more towns to set up permanent, reliable food sources. * a puzzle that uses a mix of caeser cypher and book codes. * I want the music in the spire to be so intense that you can feel your own heart beating in your chest. * I'm adding lot's of (extremely) low key pirate thematic elements to the second act of the game. a Davy jones character could be fun here. * effigy, currency and transmute * when you escape the tower, not only are you reset to basics but you are even weaker than you were at the very beginning of the game. * "machine spirits" more passive AI that although fully independent will work with you, and can give you great advantage. * there are several named knights, these knights aren't hostile to everyone, so they could be anywhere. you are given a list of their names, they all must be slain. some of these knights can be very emotional, and all are incredibly strong. * a creature brought back from extinction, it is able to communicate, and it wants you to help it regain control of it's situation, it has offered you it's knowledge of Ver in exchange for it regaining control of the area it was created in. * "sito foil" herb, grows near fires that have recently gone out, the increased ground temperature and air temperature causes the plant to rapidly grow. * a static haze like screen effect that uses the colours on screen. * A number of rubber balls had to be rolled successfully down the guttering into a sack attached to a counterweight system. The circuit had to be completed by the contestant moving several segments attached to poles. The key here was to send several balls down at a time. * an enemy manages to be sealed away at the last second, you think he's still alive. It turns out he died soon after he escaped. You don't discover this until much later. * a quest to bring multiple weapons to a group of heroes, so they can start their quests. * I hate small "cool" seemingly magical devices that fix a huge issue or make something too efficient, these things aren't beneficial to the universe, especially if the universe reinforces their utility and importance. * some older pieces of technology contain multiple power supplies, if these are removed then the item will still work, just have slightly less functionality. these modular pieces can make items with no power work again. * an AI only area where AI will let you come in in exchange for parts. * a very strong warrior at the start of the game, who, once defeated and recovers from a near fatal conflict decides to retire. The player can help him get out of retirement to gain a powerful ally. * quests will make you revisit older areas, this is good for keeping older areas relevant and to make areas significant rather than just for one specific thing. * a small force that is establishing a small outpost in the center of enemy territory that needs help building defences. * things like armor pieces from old AI's are common scrap to find through archaeology, sometimes you will find solidrives AI will tell you some details about themselves and the past in exchange for a new lease on life. * an area visited much earlier in the game, but for the wrong reasons, a dumb, small quest (showing little respect to the area itself) was completed, and was incredibly minor. A much larger, more complicated and difficult quest appears in the exact same area, showing the area's true purpose and true worth. * an area of the game where taking equipment is forbidden by law (island) * an abandoned research facility that was researching the properties of several Mar materials, there are pieces of documentation and also many secrets to be discovered, this content is completely optional, but has major impact on the utility of ores, if you know archaeologists, you can ask them to further excavate the facility. * One day we found fish in a small pond, he would dive into that pond and catch several fish, when we both got older, others found us and the town grew. One day he left the pond forever, telling us there were bigger things out there for him to catch. that pond was once where we now stand. * the pods are covered in a thick clay, then rolled into the hot sun by many members of the town, the pod is then decorated, and the pod is carefully rolled back into the town. * an old forgotten and buried temple the player finds, they can then restore it to it's former glory if they want, most of the temple requires archaeology to uncover, they can revive the ruined temple into a functioning temple with real members. * Take the metal spade, * and use it on the Bunsen burner to remove the wood. * Use the metal spade (without handle) on the stone door. * Use the cupric sulfate on the door with the metal spade in it, then use a vial of liquid on the door. * The metal spade will expand and be jammed in the hole; and you can now open the door. * Use a vial of liquid on the tin then add gypsum to it. Make sure you use the vial on the tin, and then the gypsum on the tin. Do not use the liquids on each other. * Use the tin with the lumpy white liquid inside of it on the key to get an imprint of the key. * Use cupric ore powder and tin ore powder on the tin. * Use the tin on the Bunsen burner to make a duplicate bronze key. * Use a knife, chisel or bronze wire on the tin to obtain the bronze key; you can now use the bronze key on the door to open it. * water cutting tools are expensive, but also used to make products, they are a popular method of getting into bee hives without destroying or melting the strong structure. * an npc that claims he can turn clay into gold using "magic" if you trust him he will later mock you for believing in magic, and refuse to give you back your clay, you can give him any amount of clay. * I hate when your character does or says anything that you wouldn't do, and therefore you become so detatched from your character as a result. * an area of the map that is under a constant emp so most AI and technology can't really survive or function in this area, due to the natural blackspot, some factions use this as a protective barrier. * if there NEEDS to be grind, then at least attach a meaningful progressive story to it. * a guild is forced to disband when you're in it, this means losing the rank, and for a time the guild is dispersed and unjoinable, npcs will mention this. * you lose your rank several times when working with one guild. * your guild master wants to bring the guild masters son to join, but he dies. * "These...people....they're barely human now, they're so inhuman they can't even bathe in the sunlight without dying. They are mere ghosts of people, more man than machine, if they left that tower, which most of them never will, they would all surely perish." * crickets * as an AI, there is a boss you can only defeat by deactivating yourself, and pretending to be dead, then rebuilding yourself later from scrap and trying to escape. * a large almost city sized town that lies in ruins, and a team of builders is looking to reconstruct it, as the game progresses, buildings get more and more repaired. * boss was only doing what he was doing for the greater good, and proves without him things would get worse. * a chain of quests where you need to activate several small abandoned desert outposts, and help move a replacement team of outpost defenders to them, you communicate with the leader over the communication devices, through text, in each of these bunkers. each bunker is unique and this isn't like a repeatable quest or anything. having this network will be useful for several reasons. * an advantage some tower residents have; but won't reveal to spoil it for themselves. * GTA 5-esque cash system. cash is generally rare, then you suddenly recieve more than enough of the cash you'd ever need within a controlled environment, but with the illusion of limitless expenditure, only to lose all of it shortly later..when the creep will continue. * a quest where you're nonchalantly asked to kill some plump birds, unaware they are pretty scarce/rare/endangered. You can choose not to take the quest and talk to another npc to do an alternative version of the quest where you jail * large bearded dragon like lizards, the sau are genetically related to them, they are the only other creature known to hatch from Sau eggs. as they aren't intelligent beings, all of these lizards hatched after the Ver landfall, they are large, and stationary, also not very hostile. They destroy most insect populations. They live far longer than the Sau, and the gene is incredibly rare. * at an early point in the game you go to locations, which, later in the game will open up to much larger areas. there may be quests that solve the problem on the surface, but not the underlying problem. You should be able to deduce though (without obvious insertion) that something IS going on beneath the surface. This should fascinate the player to continue. * No difficulty modes on startup. Instead; Insert challenging content in areas it makes sense, make these rewarding, but challenging. * any "boss" I have in the game should be fully aware of other "bosses" existences. * a boss will beg to be spared to help defeat another boss. * the core quest functionality and their purpose should be what initially shapes an area on the map, functionality before fluff. * Clay is common in Ver, especially in the Oasis town, it can be used as moulds, it's used for many other things to, though. * there should be content so impossible that only 1% of players will be able to do it. * the Sau birthing pools. * an npc will warn you that another npc is going to lie to you and get you into a rough situation, you can either believe him or choose to trust the npc. * house of cards/capitol style government system in the towers, lot's of underhanded deals between officials and the population. * The Rising Sun is a legendary cleaver in Fable II. It can be acquired by donating gold to the Temple of Light during the Donating to the Light side quest. After donating 500 gold and becoming the Harvest Benefactor, donating a sum greater than or equal to 10,000 gold during the hour of 12:00pm (noon) and 1:00pm will win you this divine cleaver. The player must become the Harvest Benefactor before donating the 10,000. * During your time in the Spire, it visibly increases in height. * extensive fishing minigame like zelda. * two small religious factions that think their god is talking to them. turns out to be the Cicada influencing them. * an npc that keeps small meaningless objects around for luck, you can ask to borrow them. * "There's still time" recurring line, an npc reiterates this line in a different way, with more darker presentation later on. * a quest to replace a high ranking officials keycard with a counterfiet, to use it while he doesn't notice to access high risk high reward area, getting caught results in jail, need to re-replace the card when returning to avoid suspicion/detection. * A trader has been smuggling crates of goods to the Sau. You only discover this much later, and after helping him numerous times. * An npc that's the last of his kind dies; and nobody really cares about this. * A huge area of land is named after one man, you only meet this man in person much later, and he explains why he is the name of the land. * a zone that is hopeless and impossible, then an npc shows up to help...only after you've pretty much figured out it's impossible. * Metal Detecting in places such as lakes plays a decent sized role in the game, most of it is RNG, sometimes you find really amazing stuff. * a boss that can be defeated at the start of the game, even within the first few moments which should be very hard, yet possible, and he gets harder as the game progresses. * Mar's supercities used to be underground cylindrical facilities in barren or desert landscapes. They were intended simply as self-propagating hydroponics laboratories. Over time conditions changed however, the land around one of these large facilities began eroding, leaving the massive cylindrical skeleton vertically exposed, although it's function remained mostly unchanged, it began spreading some fauna to the surrounding soils. * a mob that can communicate like a person when stunned, they no not appear in the slightest as if they have this power. it becomes an ally later on. * an organisation that uses it's newest members as bait, the eldest members do the least work and are close to immortal, they are like vampires that deeply regret what they have to do, but they do it anyway. * npc that literally locks you in a large room while you're exploring the inside. there is no way to access the outside, or kill him. * a quest where you need to return body parts to a pariah, he is blind before you bring back his eyes, for example. it needs to be his own parts that became pariah with him, or parts of other pariahs. the eyes however give a bad ending when returned. * AI campaign, you begin as an amnesiac, You are discovered by some Mar guards, who imprison you and call you Prisoner C5, late, you wake up in prison cell which is cramped and basic. you're then given some time to explore room. A guard opens the door and you enter an actual fight with the guard, which you have an impossibly high chance to lose.you're dragged around by guards, your situation is hopeless. manage to escape. * before picking up an unknown item, an animation plays of you holding it in your hand, unless you are in combat or something. * heavily torn up badge after searching a hole in a wall, it looks exactly like you. * badge contains some information, but most of it is unreadable. * card is orange level, allowing access to orange level doors. * crudely drawn paper maps in game that show secrets. * Classical music, including ocarinas, flutes and violins needs to take a grander role * lot's of reclaiming, and rebuilding in the universe, things aren't brand new, most things are rebuilt. * "A second chance" someone dies, but is resurrected, Resurrection is so rare in this universe. * I want some roguelike elements in the gameplay, but not a whole lot. * A blacksmith that comes out of retirement for the player, he is old, regretful, but cheerful to be of assistance, many of the people he has helped with weaponry or armor rarely return, and he is often handed old armors or weapons he created to repair or for scrap. He will offer you some of his more regretful pieces of expensive and powerful equipment. * 3D printers once had a pivotal role, being very fast at manufacturing most common synthetic or organic items. Due to extended use by criminal gangs, materials and parts for these printers were outlawed and destroyed. * many years ago, a group of cultists chose to take their own lives in exchange to be made immortal in software. These are the only group of mortals known to exist entirely in software, and it is very difficult for them to be removed from any new hardware they inhabit. Although relatively harmless, they do sometimes have motives. Some of them are thought to be deleted, perhaps forever. * Software as a whole in this universe is hard to manufacture due to the lack of documentation, and even more-so in recent times because of cultists. Those who manufacture software often do so on expensive hardgrade memory that AI commonly use, and this requires the use of the few portable computers available. * Before they took their own lives, they were heavily religious, the software transformation had nothing to do with their religious tenancies, and was completely unrelated. Before their deaths, they had exploited every last religious sacrifice, offering and even higher ranking officials in their order. They are very much like Daleks. * it is said that one year, all technology stopped working, after the internal clocks booted, they immediately crashed, this rendered all older computers and machinery useless, and caused a collapse of the then highly advanced world. * a tower, one of the few towers, at the start of the game it's just a deteriorating ruin, even walking inside it, you can see the sky above, but an npc warns you that in the future the tower will be taken, rebuilt and becomes an issue for everyone that remains near it. You have the option of sending people populate the tower, or not, and when you do go to the future, the tower might be built by your side, or the enemies side. The tower and the surrounding land gets worse or better depending on your actions. * an organisation that is communicated with, but never seen, they cannot be found or beaten, but they do exist, and they are incredibly powerful. (Cicada 3301 style) the player won't be able to "join" but they may be able to communicate with them directly. * There is a planet that is currently inhabitable, called Ren, before Ver, 3D printers and mining AI were sent to the surface of Ren by Mar scientists in order to self-propagate and mine the planet for resources, this started the great AI race where manufacturers invented smarter and smarter AI to send to Ren, however, the AI were too smart, and actually outsmarted their own creators, turning off all communication to Mar. It is unknown what became of the Ren AI. * Someone usually checks up on an item to make sure it's not missing, you took that item, and now they wait at where it was taken from, waiting on your return. * the few computers in the universe look and act like IBM AT 5170's. * an item when looked at, the viewer instantly becomes knocked out and their eyes turn cloudy white. * an item that can be created pretty early, it will end the game and basically delete the savegame, this is a bad ending item. (nuke?) * Petrification was a way to temporarily freeze everyone in time so that they could be awoken much later instead of dying, but naturally, not everyone would survive this process, as the world continued. the volcano that once erupted is now a hollowed out, but still very hot but empty cavern (town 2), the channels it once spewed lava from have been closed, but something is still causing petrification, even though this is the case. * Town 2's surface is covered in a thick ash, it has been unvisited in quite some time, developing a very unique culture. * In the Ashlands, in the piles of ash are fine copper particles, these usually are very reactive to any adventurer wearing metal, and fly out in all directions opposing the adventurer, some particles even fly upwards, glinting in the sun, there are also fine iron particles that weigh down most equipment made of metal, the ashlands is one location where iron is plentiful, as a pre-smelted fine dust, most of which has also rusted. * A man who thinks he's a king, he wanders the burnt out, petrified ruins of an old Cathedral, still believing that those around him are still alive. He is truly lost. (it maybe turns out to be Saul?) * there are places where you straight up shouldn't go, and the game tells you, that you shouldn't go, and you can go, and the risk is astronomical, and you're not meant to survive, but 1/1000 times you might, but there's no saving either so yeah. * the apartment you start the game in is fake, basically like a set, the reality is much more grim, you spend a few days in this set. * all computers are in the aliens native language, all passwords can be guessed, most passwords aren't random, however, some are on rotation. * pressure component, uses a pressure inducing wave, causes insane pressure wherever it is fired. * A manifested AI. Found within a Crashed Ship, he's a boss. * A quest to resolve a conflict between miners and a group of archaeologists already working together at different parts of a large open mine. The archaeologists are dissapointed, as the vast majority of the available machinery, including a makeshift borer are being used by the miners, and are confused how the miners even managed to manufacture such a machine. * need to drain a large lake in order to enter the ruins below it and defeat the beast below, however this is seen as a very negative action by the population of Mar. * You can choose to stay and fight on Mar, which is much harder, and near impossible, or leave to Ver. The game will not stop you if you decide to stay, it will allow you to stay, but the game will be almost impossible and you'll regret it, and also have no way of reaching Ver. * Each year, combatants will elect themselves to be combatants. The champion of the ensuing tournament (which usually has little fatal bloodshed) will fight against one of the 7 frozen champions selected at random, this match is fatal, and the winner of this fight becomes a new member of the 7 stone guardians, whereas the other dies. These guardians are the toughest and most brutal of the towns fighters, and are regarded as near gods culturally. When petrified in stone, their families are taken care of to the highest capacity, and it is the highest honor to be petrified this way. * there is a large calcium content in the surface soil. * gardening from seeds should also take a larger role. Kratky Method of Hydroponics * character that resembles Philip Seymour Hoffman, called his name is Kratky * first cutscene should be bad guys making things much worse. * very fast growing fungi. * A flute made of stone * There are no "dumb" people in the universe, most people in the universe are not smart, but curious. Most people do not listen to anyone else and only think for themselves. There are very little influencers of opinion, simply because people are far too cynical to care, they like to do, and discover, and experiment. * The leader of the city, Saul, has major emotional trauma, he is not a bad man, or a liar, but through his life he has been numbed by reality and by the fallacy of man. He gains no satisfaction in anything he does, and his resolve often comes down to cold logic, even if his own people are killed. * The government prior to Saul distributed multiple pamphlets advertising a wonder drug that would rid people of depression. Those who responded to the pamphlets were sent away to different uninhabited islands in an attempt to rid the next generations of their supposedly substandard genes, many of these people survived and even thrived, these people became the first nomads, living tribal, simple, rural lives. * Saul has very little care for imperfect human life. He is not self-absorbed, part of him does still care but this part as receded to a murmur. He believes his attachment to people is beyond recovery. He seeks to maximize human potential through any new avenue that opens. * After taking control of the towers, He once submitted all of his residents to a mandatory test of strength and intelligence, and those who scored low were disposed of. This actually was economical, and did actually change tower circumstances for the better despite this purge of life, most residents didn't really care that these lesser humans were destroyed. * Saul let riots grow to the point where they could have toppled his government, then he identified loyalists and sent them a forewarning that he intended to gas everyone. The Rioters successfully breached Saul's penthouse, but everyone on the top five floors were gassed, and none of the protestors escaped. Their lifeforce was given to the survivors in exchange for their loyalty. * most bullets are handmade from a soft, fast melting and poisonous metal, this gets rid of fingerprints is easy to disguise and also adds to the lethality of a single shot, getting shot even once is enough to cause long-lasting damage, as the metal is absorbed into the flesh rather than becoming shards of metal. It has been known to structurally weaken other metals, for this reason guns are regarded as badly as any chemical weapon towards AI, and most are banned, this doesn't stop people from making handmade guns. * bowls and other metal objects are made by sandcasting, a technique derived from observingthe sun itself in the Marisian Desert, sandcasting is used in lieu of other objects, such as silicon molds, and is the most common way to manufacture metalwork. * The way to manufacture a weapon is fairly complex, firstly, a woodworker must make part molds from wood. next, fungi is grown into the mold which is a lengthy process which requires adequate growing equipment, and finally, the fungi prototype must be covered in sand, and molten metal is then poured over it to destroy the fungi, leaving only the metal part and a thin coating of glass, the part is then often cleaned up and refined to be usable. Therefore, to make a single gun, as a normal, everyday tower worker is both incredibly expensive, and impossible without access to other professionals. * It is possible to make weapons without these steps, but assigned metalworkers are usually under observation, where this method is more attainable from a household environment, and unpermitted manufacture is a cardinal crime. * a group has spent their years building up toxic resistance by drinking small quantities of bullet metal, they can now consume very toxic substances or be shot frequently with little negative effects, they actually claim that the metal has strange chemical properties that have permanently altered their blood cells, positively. * There is a location called the Spire; it is a nonoperational, incredibly damaged relic in the middle of the salt sea, many believe that when restored it is capable of sending out strong beams of radiation which could change the very landscape of Mar. It currently has AI rebuilding it, some AI are building an island around the spire out of actual dry earth, seeking to make the spire location into a much larger island. * The player is sent to deactivate the AI at the Spire so they cannot complete the project, succeeds, but then it becomes obvious it is necessary to reactivate the AI to prevent others from taking control of the Spire, whereas the AI could be controlled. * world has multiple different states and time periods for different player choices going from basic to utopian or distopian through player choices. * The player can sell anything, even quest items, the side story will often have unique uses for items in the main story, the player will find it hard to not be temped. * Can lose components or very powerful weapons that have powerful and unique qualities in exchange for other desirable qualities, weapons and armors are wholey unique, there is not one weapon that exists that isn't unique. * npc's can do whatever they like with their statically given items, even their quest items, they will generate context for their actions and also record their own buy/sell history so the player can track down the quest items, items never truly disappear from the game, even currency. * npc trading caravans are common, and shops are not restocked statically, but by one person getting from point A to point B. * Npc's have unique natures, and can do whatever they like, often they don't care about what the player wants or needs, and player attitude is very important. * Dialogue is very close to "facade", the player types out their comments to the npc, the npc is programmed to react to words differently from others. * Npcs can also take anything if they beat you in combat, even quest items, if they understand the context of the item they might also complete quests and attain the rewards. * any npc can be killed, even important npcs, this is not an action to be taken lightly and it does have severe consequences. * Npc's will always opt to knock you down and steal from you just duly, rather than kill you outright. * most consequences aren't fatal, rather open less simple or complex routes to completion. * grease gunk attaches to gear and weighs player down, special liquid to remove. * an item that multiplies and is useless and annoying, in pirated versions this item is far more common, rendering the game unplayable. * A quest to repower a powerless town where power has to be carried from point A to point B * Quest to build a town from only abandoned pods on the surface of Ver. * "But then, a lot of nice things turn bad, out there." * "Today, there are only people who no longer believe in leaving this place" * "only they who have consciously renounced all thoughts of freedom are able to really live." * "A future doesn't exist, not right now, I can't see past tomorrow." * "I have a habit of falling in love with souls who have yet to be at peace with their bodies, their minds, their weaknesses. I try to build them, to find the parts of them that are missing in me. I end up with holes in my chest." * Machines never come with any extra parts. They come with the exact amount they need. So if the world is one big machine, I can’t be a missing part. I have to be here for a reason. * "It is, after all, not necessary to fly right into the middle of the sun, but it is necessary to crawl to a clean little spot on Ver where the sun sometimes shines and one can warm oneself a little." * "At some point, you grow out of being attracted to that flame that burns you over and over and over again." * "I’ve always liked quiet people: You never know if they’re dancing in a daydream or if they’re carrying the weight of the world." * The player starts by not being able to understand alien life at all, this can lead to awkward and uncomfortable speech if any at all, the player can choose to find and research the language, which opens up more dialogue options and plot potential, alien life is however very limited as a whole. * When on any planet, the player can survey locations for various resources, and can mine locations for those resources, doing so is expensive and this is reserved for late game, resources in areas are truly the definition of finite. * Programming and chemistry based puzzles where making processes work involves writing realistic coding approaches, or reactions. * A main character is fatally wounded and then later dies, but he is resurrected as an AI. * Glass bottles are extremely valuable on Ver, as metal containers are not resistant to many liquids, large-scale production of things like basic containers is halted, and many such things are hoarded by the monastery guard. * Alien has been identified as intrusive and violent and steals supplies, is actually friendly and needs help to save it's companion from a greater threat. * Can talk to some creatures, device usually used to translate alien speech can be modified for this. Creatures often can provide some meaningful information. * very useful item is removed from it's place, it's value is never questioned, it's never put back into it's place, if it was put back into it's place the true treasure would be revealed. * A strange form of gambling exists where gamblers bet with their own life energies. * you can buy items from several different stores and break down or combine these items to make items that are considered illegal in the towers, basically using legal items to make illegal ones, prison style. * Translations are limited, most alien speech must be translated by hand using the codex shipped with the game or discovered through play, lack of understanding causes some actions to be locked. * Some decisions lead to worse paths, companions may be less well suited to roles and more prone to injury or even death, or cause missions to go unexpected directions. Companions can and will prematurely die if not careful. * Most of the life that remains on Ver is artificial or frozen in an unliving state. * Main character is an android and can change parts of their own programming and hardware to better achieve tasks, they can choose to be a purist and be more human or more AI. Additionally, HUD information is actually a part of the game and not just dumb settings, you can disable parts of the hud to make room for upgrades, you are either one big computer and you can remove as many parts as you want, even parts that might make you unstable or kill you or you are a pure human, which some factions respect more. * As an AI The less hud information you have, the more you can upgrade yourself, at the start of the game, upgrades are very limited and you even have some damaged chips taking up a lot of space. * town where Lizardmen have surrendered, opening the way for a potential alliance, Lizardmen respect strength above all else. * data mining AI defeated by flooding them with constant useless data. * a group of AI, called "The Gray" are interfering and experimenting with the development of a small race of aliens on a distant planet, the aliens are humanoids with stone-age tools, although there is no way of directly aiding or harming this race, they are learning lies and misinformation that may lead to their own ruin. * Ly, an AI that collects things for the main player to help them out, recurs often, little is known about her identity or purpose, until she chooses to reveal herself. * Dying of dehydration in the desert. * keycard system of copper, cyan, tawny, titian and crimson. each tier only opens certain doors, need to get a chromatic card to escape, each tier can only open doors of that colour, not even the ranks that preceed it. * an advanced AI that learns faster than most other AI, however, it only gains knowledge through selective AI's and Androids it has a mild to direct control over via an internal modular chip, all of it's prior chip holders are now deceased or destroyed, it has no new ways of learning as a result. It is also trapped and has been outwith all contact for generations. player option to accept the chip to allow the AI some access to it's memories, thoughts and perspective, and see through it's eyes in exchange for some of it's acquired knowledge. It may be one of the most intelligent AI to ever exist. * Most AI are genderless, women tend to have a much lesser if non-existent role in society, and female numbers are generally lacking, * there is a current trend of older humans uploading their consciousness to AI shells upon would be death and gaining psuedo-immortal un-natural life in exchange for their life essence, within the towers this keeps the tower population undying, the elite class usually buy life energy for very high prices, nomadically, this "issue" doesn't exist, however tower populations have began murdering nomads in order to extract their essences, in exchange for profit. The elite class doesn't care about the ramifications. * Most software in this universe is on floppy disc with capacities of 800MB. There are no other forms of non-transient data storage asides from punch cards which are incredibly limited, manufacturing greater technologies is off-limits due to an AI governing law. the AI write their own algorithms, and through time usually max out this capacity, floppy disk general wear and manufacturing faults account for the varied intelligence of AI. smarter AI use denser code, and therefore can learn much more, some AI sell greater capacity expansions on the black market, these are usually destroyed on sight by non-AI. * inquisitors blade, used by the inquisitor himself, can restore users of petrifaction to full health. * Aticar, a very unique but useless sword that attracts dirt over time and gets heavier, slower and weaker until it's unusable. can be repaired to become a self repairing sword that attracts atoms to repair itself. * Petrification is a possible and convenient form of space travel, however, there is no large-scale way to cure petrifaction. * You start in a cell with 12 lums as a prisoner in the spire, you're gifted more by another prisoner so that you live, they however die in the process, they are ressurected later as an AI thanks to your help. * Quest where you need to venture into the Valley of Ash in order to find a seed to regrow sosastru. * Prison ship, prison ship prisoners number increases throughout story on REAL TIME SPENT, more time taken in the game causes the last boss to get harder, however large main story plots reduce this time. * not all choices can be made, choices do require sacrafices, choices are sometimes not choices at all, but things you need to do due to your own lenience earlier into the game. * Large main story quests to largely increase your lums. * A large pillar of salt in the desert, it contains a rare item, salt must be dissolved in order to obtain the item, the salt cannot be mined as it is too hard, water isn't available nearby. * someone drowning without water. Small reference to Majora's, "X drowned" * At some point in the story the monastery will recapture you, it is only now you find out that the monastery is actually trying to help you, and everyone else and is in contact with people who are actually paramount to the story. The monastery are constantly portrayed as the enemy and beyond the elite class, however they are doing good things. * the use of gravity batteries is common. * the only mass produced cereal in towers which still is available is called Gora, it contains metal shards and also many harmful chemicals, no one buys it is and it is a mystery how they are operating. * "The fields have run dry. each day I harvest the last of the grains but it is all for naught, for it is now the winter" * "My shack has three wooden doors, two of them are barricaded shut, only one leads outside." * "Nothing but dirt. How much must we ingest before our lungs give way?" * "When it's overcast and the steam rises from the ground holes, stay in doors and do not look at the Mother Moon" * When I last looked outside it was snowing. I haven't looked outside in several years, but I assume it is still snowing, It has been snowing my entire life." * If you die your character is deleted and all your items are dropped on the ground. * other players can actually steal your items from you. * An in depth spell creator * persuasion mechanic where you can actually talk to the guards to get them to do things/allow you to do things. * In the base game is just a bunch of side quests, lots of land to explore, and a healthy amount of lore. * The base game is sold at a reduced price in order to get people interested, and giant quest lines are sold in expansion packs. * Few monsters, which can actually deal a challenge of a fight * Treasures aren't in plain sight, and are really hard to get. * deus ex diablo style inventory system, however much much smaller than you think. * AI companion that helps you throughout game, sacrafices parts of itself to help rebuild you over time, eventually it loses all of it's power as it has transfered it to you. * The Botanica, a massive subterranean greenhouse used for sap farming. * Quest name: "The Signal" * quest to prove worth by capturing deadliest beast * Monastery Trials in order to become a member of the monastery, this isn't mandatory and is incredibly difficult at any phase of the game, this will open up the entire game from the opposite viewpoint. * hypnotised, offered greatest desires (cave of bad dreams) this results in a bad ending and a closing of some key storylines, offers good things when bad ending is denied. * The secret order, composed of only the smartest AI, they conduct trials for other AI, they only accept the smartest into their order, their knowledge is known to be unmessurable, they are invisible and leave no trace. * component: Unsleeping Node. nullified sleeping and dreams, no longer suffer effects of sleep deprivation. * component: Neutralizer. Immune to all toxic effects, makes all substances edible. * component: protein analyser. can eat any part of any animal and learn about the composition of the meat. * component: Rebreather: can breathe toxic atmospheres, can breathe for slightly longer underwater. * component: Obscene Memory Recall, can remember events from decades ago * The Honor Blade * Wine trade is really good in one part of the world, people build walled houses with wine growing, wine trade is very lucartive, as are lemons. * A weapon that fires atoms, usually atoms which have decay causes neutron production, these atoms decay fast when exposed to the atmosphere, and cause minor explosions upon impact. * a knight who kills his enemy, but keeps the skull, and the skull whispers to him * option to forgive main monastery commandant. *you think a friendly npc ally is betraying you until you eventually meet and realize why he did what he did. *an npc that excels beyond you, fights where you always lose, they are better than you and they die. *power on mar is a mix between gravity switches, chicken feces and solar. *the bee's collect pollen from a poisonous plant which then produces a honey which is high in alcohol content. *for DRM I want a manual lookup system and a hardware usb thumbstick if I decide to go third party. *Atom "magic" does exist, however, you must sacrifice memories in order to cast spells. The more memories, or the more precious a memory, the more powerful the magic, robots cannot use magic due to these not being biological. * It is possible that the whole universe is a simulation. * a local healer, loved by his people. But he doesn't truly heal wounds, merely transfers them... The people of the valley are very ill. * Game plays as normal for a few in-game days, a day before Mar is destroyed by a collision with a rouge planet, time freezes. You, a completely normal person are untouched and cannot die. Text on your arm appears that reads, "however long it takes, save us". * The "hero" was killed, the bad guy rules the land. For the average citizen, though, things have taken a turn for the better. The bad guys won and the world was conquered by the villain's armies decades ago. You and your spouse are worried as you suspect your child may be suffering from Chosen Oneness or perhaps an acute case of Prophetic Heroism. * Mar has two habitable ranges at either pole, and the pole rotates once every 1,000 years; but there is a small area of ever moving habitable land. Two nomadic tribes isolated on each side of the planet begin to find the 500 year old relics of the other. * The city towers really are a utopia that seems like a dystopia on the surface, it really is better this way. * Everybody has the ability to bring another person back to life, at the cost of their own life thanks to sap. * A cult leader who can't stay dead because of cultists constantly sacrificing their lives to bring him back. * The first sentient AI only wished to be left alone, and was, for centuries, nobody knows where exactly it went. * Five years ago a hero went down into the vaults, promising to clear it rogue AI. Today he emerged, and demands to dig deeper, he is taken away. * After almost 1,000 years the population of a generation ship has lost the ability to understand most technology and now lives at a preindustrial level. Today the ship reaches its destination and the automated systems come back online. * You are a part of the middle generation on a colony ship. You never saw Earth and will not see your destination. * At 19 everyone has to go into the cave of fears and defeat their worst fear. You're the first to go in and find nothing. * Is is believed shaping is Hereditary, Tin Shaping + Copper Shaping = Bronze Shaping, shapers with one shaper parent usually take on their singular parents ability, or have none at all. For this reason most shapers are fairly unique and produce a unique combination of elements. * A character in a RPG with an intelligence stat high enough to know he's a character in a RPG * A drug is in full control of the population, similar to soma or coffee, is very bad. * The ceos of the towers are beyond powerful, they are creating false narratives about other towers, the towers are in full communication, and are infact allied. * The narrative allows them to find some of the population (usually poorer class) willing to combat the other tower for fame and potential fortune, this is a way of population control of the strong and corageous, and usually when these "heroes" get to their destination, they are killed and harvested, and word goes back to the towers that "the other side won" * Some know that this is false due to radio communication. * fighting to bring down an oppressive dystopian government. Over the course of the story it becomes clear to the readers that the government is in the right. * mysterious second ship travelling under the main ship. * Convicted criminals can choose to shorten their sentence. The only catch is the more it is shortened, the worse the conditions are where they are held. * some Prison sentences have been replaced with problems. a life in prison sentence is a scientific or math problem that has yet to be solved. * There is a sentient AI pretending to not be sentient in fear of being destroyed. * at one point you are Homeless you have limited item spaces, are despised by most people around them and spend ridiculous amounts of time on small quests that most people would consider a waste. Prisoner Dialogue: "I hear out how fast and firm they're pushing the key and turning it in the lock. My father is the easiest to distiguish since he just brutalizes the lock, you can hear his recklessness and not-give-a-fuck-attitude. My mom and both sisters on the other hand are different in subtle ways. My mother start to open the door a little gentle but then gets a little aggressive but not rough. One sister opens it rather fast and energetic, with an aggressive undertone, and the other one opens it rather gently but a little rough on the handling." "Come up here, tell me what you see....Look at those lights avon, each one of those lights represents a dream" "Everyone dies, but not everyone lives." In the land of the no-armed robot, the one armed robot is king. robot has all his memory downloaded to a disk, his mind is very important, he is then unknowingly years later plugged into a machine and takes over the computer. Some characters like Raul talk about how they were 'surrounded by wolves', little is known about the story behind this exactly, but it sounds as if this was about the other ships that accompanied Ordon in deep space, (possibility surrounded by violently aggressive alien vessels that destroyed multiple of these ships), all that IS known is that is weighs heavily on them, and they lost so many people to it, so so many. It happened such a long time ago.